THIS IS FINDON
VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com
created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West
Sussex, U.K.
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4th September 1940 — The grim remains of the severed
engine of
the German Messerschmitt Bf-110 that crashed with such force that it almost buried
itself in the ground. |
THE HIGH SALVINGTON MESSERSCHMITT
Bf-110C-4 — 4th
September 1940
Copyright Valerie Martin 2003
As I have said before when recording wartime Findon, it is
very difficult piecing together the evident some sixty years later as memories
are hazy and sometimes conflicting.
I have endeavoured to present the facts as I have unravelled them.
It was at 13:25 on the 4th September 1940, that Messerschmitt
Bf-110-4, serial 3254, Unit 7.ZG 76, Code 2N+BM, was shot down in a dogfight in a clear sky over Findon and crashed on the
north side of the High Salvington hillside
in Cote Street above Findon Village, . Its twin tail section was completely
cut off by the Royal Air Force machine-gun bullets from a Hurricane from 43
Squadron (Pilot Officer Upton).
The two crew members of the Messerschmitt, Oberleutnat
Walter Schiller and
Feldwebel Helmut Winkler (gunner/wireless operator), escaped by
immediately baling out. Schiller was Staffelführer
of 7. Staffel.
Left to its own devices the Messerschmitt
plummeted to the ground and the engine partly buried itself in the ground and
was completely destroyed.
How difficult my job is untangling the
past. How hard it is writing local history from the distance of half a
century!
One parachutist made a very
spectacular arrival in the village by becoming miserably entangled in a tree on
the opposite side of the road to Kingswood Farm on the A24..
Brian Chappell was living at The Oval in Findon. He
has told me that seeing this German
parachute descending from the sky was too good an opportunity to miss. He
leaped over the back fence of his garden and ran towards the landing
site. A Hurricane was circling overhead and when the pilot saw the
lad, he waved his wings and flew off.
Brian clambered up the tree to the
parachutist, (not stopping to even think that the enemy crewman might be armed).
When Brian climbed level to him, the German put his hands up and Brian motioned for
him to descend the tree. I think it can now be recorded that on that
day, Brian officially captured the German at aged thirteen.. Brian remembers how young
the crewman looked, wearing a German uniform and not a flying suit.
He untangled the parachute and it was taken apart by the village women, who had
gathered on the ground to share out the prize.
A large contingent from Findon had also rushed to the scene. The reception party consisted of all the local soldiers, Home Guard, and the police who had
hurried to the spot but had arrived too late to make the initial capture.
The weary and shaken German was taken off in a Bedford 15 cwt truck.
Walter Schiller and Helmut Winkler were
both taken prisoner of war.
Also on this day, 4th September 1940, a Messerschmitt Bf
ll0C-4, serial 2116, crashed landed at Mill Hill on the nearby Shoreham Downs
after a confrontation with R.A.F. fighters from 43, 601 and 602 Squadrons..
The crew were Oberleutnant Wilhelm Schäfer (pilot and Adjudant) and
Oberleutnant Wilhelm Unteroffizier Heinz
Bendjus (wireless operator). Both were taken prisoners of war
and the aircraft was a complete write off.
The Battle of Britain officially finished on 31st October
1940. The Royal Air Force had lost 915 aircraft, the Luftwaffe 1,733.
The battle in the skies nevertheless continued.
During the Battle of Britain many dogfights had occurred
in the sky and afterwards quantities of shrapnel were picked up in and around Findon. Young children could not be left
alone to play in their backyards for fear of fragments thrown by exploding
shells or bombs. Babies could not even have their normal morning sleep in
their prams in the garden — it was too dangerous and they were confined indoors for the
duration of hostilities.
Continue if you would like to read about Hilda Gladys 'Bombie'
Eustice's
Secret Establishment at High Salvington Overlooking Findon.
This is
Findon Village —
www.findonvillage.com is
a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for
documenting life in Findon.
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